Marion County, Indianapolis Rat Control Situation:
Hello David, I have been reading the information that you have on line about squirrels in the attic. We have something in our attic and cannot figure out what it is, nor have we been able to trap it, nor has it been caught in a rat trap. I hear this creature or creatures ??? during the day, as well as at night. There does not seem to be a particular favorite time that they move around. Perhaps the morning is very quiet, and there is more activity in the afternoon and evening. My bedroom is quite a distance from the area that we hear this creature in, so I would not hear it at night even if it is moving around a lot at night.
I mostly have heard scratching in the walls, and at one point did hear a big thud. The odd thing about this creature is this. We set a live trap with peanut butter in it, and what ever it is carried large pieces of insulation inside the trap to cover the peanut butter. Like really large- maybe a 6 X 6 inch piece. We feel the trap was not set properly because it did not shut. Next day we put meat in it, thinking it may be an animal that would want meat like an opossum. All this time our rat traps have remained in place but this creature DAILY overs all the traps with insulation....without getting caught. We have not seen anything enter or leave. We found one area that is gapping between he house and fascia but only maybe a 3" opening. We do know for sure that there is enter way at the garage floor. We will put foam insulation in those areas this weekend to hopefully stop rats or whatever it is up there from entering and will continue our trapping efforts. We live north of Indianapolis IN in the country on one acre. Our house is 7 years old; made of brick.
By my description, do you have any idea what we might be dealing with, and any suggestions on how to catch this creature? I appreciate all the info your web site; I just cant find anything that remotely sounds like what we have going on with this creature attempting to bury the traps with insulation. Many thanks for any advice. Jill
Why don't you have a wildlife expert inspect the house and attic in order to determine what the animal is? It could be raccoons or opossums, not necessarily rats. The feces and tracks in the attic, and the nature of the entry holes should tell you what animal you're dealing with.
Indianapolis Rat Control Tip of The Week
How To Deal With A Rat On The Roof
Also known as a homeowner's furry little nightmare, rats are a kind of household pest no one wants to have in their roof. These pests can keep you up at night with their scurrying sound, contaminate your environment with their feces and nesting materials, and spread all kinds of diseases.
Unlike having rats in other parts of your home, their presence in your roof can be quite difficult to deal with. The roof is a difficult place to reach and inspect. If you have to remove them from your roof, you will have to either hire a professional to help you or carry out a difficult process by yourself.
If you feel you can deal with the rats in your roof without the help of a wildlife removal agent, there are certain things you need to put in place before going ahead to remove them. First, you need to find a way to put away all the things attracting them into your home. The major things that attract rats are the availability of food and a hiding place. To make your home unattractive to them, you need to keep all the food in your home in a place that is inaccessible by the rats and keep your house clean. When you do this, they will find it difficult to stay in your home and will not find their way into your roof.
The best way to handle rats in the roof is to set multiple snap traps in the roof, bait them with attractive baits, and place them in different locations on the roof. These traps will help trap as many as possible humanely. If you are considering using poison to help kill the rats in your roof, you will be causing yourself more troubles. Having shared this, you need to use only snap traps when it comes to removing rats from your roof.
